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Monday, 24 February 2014

It’s All About the Research: @AdrianaKraft on how The Unmasking #book came to be

Happy Monday, readers. Today I am happy to welcome a new guest to my blog, author Adriana Kraft. She tells us how she did the research for her latest novel, The Unmasking.
Be sure to make her feel welcome. I will gift one lucky person who leaves a comment with a copy of this ebook. So be sure to leave her a comment.

Over to you, Adriana...

It’s All About the
Research

Authors of erotic romance often get teased about what kind of research they might delve into for the sake of their books – it’s a tough job, but somebody’s got to do it…**snicker, giggle, knowing wink.** The research my husband and I engaged in for this spicy romantic suspense is a little different – some might say, it’s been our entire lives. We’ve both taught at universities (that’s where we met) and we know the academic life from the inside. The choices and struggles faced by our professorial hero, Anthropologist Matt Bayfield, are more familiar than we might like to admit. Hubs is a sociologist with a specialty in criminology. I promise he’s drawn on this background immensely in creating our spunky female undercover cop, Nancy Appleby, in plotting the trajectory of the crimes and the mystery of solving it, and especially in understanding our truly creepy villain (who I won’t name, of course – that would spoil everything!). We’ve both immersed ourselves in understanding Celtic culture and history for years – long before we envisioned this novel. Hubs has Welsh roots, and mine are Scotch-Irish on one side, so we feel an ancestral pull to that era and its understanding of seasons and cycles. It was easy to hand that passion over to our ersatz professor. We won’t say more about how it’s woven into the plot, but we think readers will like it. We had a close call researching the technology we’ve handed our resourceful cop – hubs found himself on a website requesting security clearance for more information. Backed right out of that one! But found what we needed to know without tripping any more alarms. The North Woods, where we’ve set the novel? A place we’ve lived and loved, and left, when the winters grew too much for us to handle. But while we lived there, we threw ourselves with a passion into the cross country skiing, snowshoeing, and crisp winter outings Nancy enjoys so much. Writing those scenes was like watching snippets from our own life on the screen. The Unmasking was originally released in 2008 under a different pen name; rights reverted to us when the contract ran out, and we’ve decided to re-issue it as “ourselves.” We’ve thoroughly re-edited the book and incorporated helpful feedback from our beta readers Our tag line is Erotic Romance for Two, Three, or More. Most of our published work has focused on the “three or more” side of the equation. We’re happy to offer a book focused on the “two” element, and we think readers will find the sex is no less sizzling. And no, we’re not going to share any research we might have indulged in to write those scenes.

The Unmasking, by
Adriana Kraft

February
15, 2014

B&B
Publishing

ISBN978-0-9894693-6-4;ASINB00IDVB6KQ

Romantic
Suspense, 87,000 words

Heat
rating: Four flames

BLURB

Whose mask will crumble first—

the enigmatic professor of Celtic Studies,

the undercover cop masquerading as a co-ed,

or the campus stalker,

biding his time to strike again?

Is anthropology professor Matt Bayfield the
Blackthorn College rapist, or a potential ally? Aloof and unapproachable, Matt
has academic ambitions. He can’t escape Blackthorn College soon enough, and he
doesn’t want any entanglements to slow down his exit.

Nancy Appleby would like
nothing more than to solve the string of campus rape cases before Thanksgiving
so she can go home. The last thing she wants is a relationship to complicate
her life—but she’ll settle for a fling, especially when the sex sizzles.

The stalker has his own carefully crafted
timetable, with a special date just for Nancy. Can Matt and Nancy force him out
of his hidey-hole before it’s too late?

REVIEWS

Four
and a half stars at Romance Junkies: From beginning to end, THE UNMASKING is a
fascinating tale…I was intrigued at how the writing team is able to intertwine
a love story with such horrifying circumstances in startling clarity. One of
the many things I adored about this story is that the main characters are
flawed. They both make judgment errors and their mistakes and assumptions lead
to some emotionally trying scenes that had me eagerly reading to find out how
they were going to solve their conflicts - or at several points if they even
would be able to remain together. If you enjoy romantic suspense novels then I
can definitely recommend THE UNMASKING. Chrissy D.

Five
Stars at Amazon: One of the best stories ever written by
Adriana Kraft…a truly great read. Could not put it down until I finished it.
Amy B.

Five
Stars at Goodreads: The suspense is so well done you don't know
who the bad guy is until it's revealed in the book. The action is fast paced
and kept my interest to the very end. Could not put the book down. Donna H.

Nancy
Appleby scanned the co-eds in the small lecture hall. Each could be his next
prey. Each looked much younger than she remembered being as a full-time
student. Each woman hung on Professor Bayfield’s well crafted words.

Was
it the topic, Celtic Myths and Rituals,
or was it the aloofness of the tall, dark-haired lecturer with the strong
protruding chin that mesmerized? He did command attention. Although his tone
was mild, Bayfield played with his audience like a polished actor. Clearly he
was in control. Though he gestured but rarely, he moved like an athlete,
comfortable in his body.

Nancy
jotted notes on a yellow pad pretending to be no different than anyone else in
the room. She glanced up at Bayfield, whose eyes had settled on her; they were
piercing and inquisitive. Then he shifted his gaze, but he’d noticed her, was
thinking about her. Why? She’d done everything she could to blend in. He hadn’t
seemed particularly troubled by her presence, just curious.

Nancy
redirected her attention to the individuals sitting in front of her. She’d
arrived early to claim an aisle seat in the back row. The raised auditorium
layout provided an advantageous observation post. About sixty women and twenty
men were in attendance, no doubt a decent turnout. Blackthorn College had a
student body of less than two thousand.

Nancy
scribbled more notes and then focused on the men in the room.

Was
he in the lecture hall? Would he
strike again, tonight? Or would the rapist stay in his hole, biding his time?

ABOUT ADRIANA KRAFT

Adriana
Kraft is the pen name for a husband/wife team writing Erotic Romance for Two, Three or More. The award-winning pair has
published over thirty erotic romance novels and novellas to outstanding
reviews. Romantic pairings include straight m/f, lesbian, bisexual, ménage and
polyamory, in both contemporary and paranormal settings.